Happiness (Alexander Medvedkin, 1934)
Medvedkin’s surreal silent comedy tells the story of a peasant named Khmyr and his wife Anna as they try to discover the meaning of happiness. The narrative unfolds over an unrealistic amount of time, taking the couple from pre-Revolutionary days to the time of Stalin and collectivization. Throughout the film, the happiness of the couple is thwarted by a series of absurd and surreal events, including a horse unwilling to do its work, neighbours who steal their entire granary, and Tsarist officers who arrest a suicidal Khmyr, asking him ‘if the peasant dies, who will feed Russia?’ One of the most famous scenes features the arrival of members of the Orthodox Church, including nuns in see-through outfits and a clearly corrupt priest who has arrived to collect tithes from Khmyr and his wife
In making this film, Medvedkin was trying to appropriate old Russian folklore in a way that would be relevant to the new socialist society.[1] As such, the film is primarily concerned with collectivization, although its satirical and absurd nature points towards a critique of various aspects of Russian and Soviet society, and as such was soon banned by the Soviet government.[2]
Director: Alexander Medvedkin
Writer: Alexander Medvedkin
Cast: Pyotr Zinovyev, Yelena Yegorova and Nikolai Cherkasov
Year: 1934
Production Company: Vostokfilm
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